Yesterday, It Went Down. And I Have to Shout Out to 75 1st Graders from Norwalk & 19 Undergraduates from @FairfieldU for a Spectacular Event. Woot Woot to @DollyParton, @mattdelapena!, @theartoffunnews

This is a Covid story. 

But it isn't ugly, it's beautiful (as CJ taught us). My undergraduates were scheduled to work with Kendall College and Career Academy in their Explorations of Education course, and we began the semester working with 1st graders. Alas, because of protocols and precaution, we opted not to do face-to-face learning. Rather, we became pen pals, and then decided on a ZOOM workshop. We knew we were working with Amanda Gorman's Change Sings, but I have a difficult time working with student audiences without throwing in a Matt de la Peña picture book. They make you think, and Christian Robinson's artwork is spectacular. They win every time.

So, Crandall thought, "How am I going to get 19 Fairfield bodies onto the screen in 6 classrooms of Norwalk? Well, ZOOM, of course. And Padlet. Crandall can't love Padlet any more. How do we keep the kids entertained and, more importantly, teach them? They really wanted to see our campus, so why not make a video for them, even if the weather didn't cooperate. And who knew undergrads loved donuts and iced coffee so much?

I asked a student to read Amanda Gorman's book - she rocked it, and then we moved to Last Stop on Market Street. Who was there to save the day? Well, no other than Dolly Parton! I have read Matt's book a 1,000 times to students and teachers, but I'm no Dolly Parton. When she sang at the end I told my students, I think I'm about to cry. This was absolute beauty upon the screen. That accent. The recognition of being poor in the U.S., and the voice. 

This is the power of ZOOM and Padlet. I could present to 75+ 1st graders in their rooms, with their teachers, as my students participated in my room, Canisius Hall. I could call on them to come to the screen to talk to the kids, and we were able to see them on the screens in our room. We could ask them questions and hear the cacophony of responses.

After we read both books, and I did a presentation on "change over time" and the "beauty of change," (working on consonant clusters with 'ch') I gave the assignment to draw something beautiful or something that changes over time and to write a sentence about it.

Phew. Complete silence. Everyone went right to work. It was scary, so I said, "How about some music?" So I typed "kid music" and this video came up first. Can I tell you that 100% of those first graders drew something beautiful and/or wrote about change. And then we had Open-Mic time and they shared their writing with my students. I should note that my college students wrote, too, and a couple of them shared with the little ones. I collected their work for a grade. Kidding. I will send their work the school.

And this was the video that broke the seal. Matt, Dolly, and these kids (both in the video and as writers). When I was tasked to teach a service learning course with the realities of Covid, I didn't know if it would work. Phew. It works. Why? Beautiful kids, wonderful teachers, stunning books, and generous writers and singers putting their talents into the world.

I welcome such change. I welcome this beauty.